The online home of The Readers' Advisory Guide to Horror, an ALA publication.

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Tuesday, October 7, 2014

31 Days of Horror-- Day 7: The Essence of the Appeal of Horror in 2 Sentences

Today I want to talk about the appeal of horror in a little more detail. If you are not someone who wants to “feel the fear” when reading for fun, it is hard to understand why some of us love it; in fact a large part of my book and this blog are devoted to conversations about the appeal of horror.

I spend a lot of time breaking down the whys and hows of the very best the horror genre has to offer fans. For example:

But besides reminding you of what I have said in the past, today’s post was inspired by my colleague, Kimberly Stack, Collection Development Librarian at Baker and Taylor whose public library website is http://www.btol.com/p_library_details.cfm. Kimberly provides RA to librarians and in her words, “the wonderment of working in a position like mine is that all my patrons are librarians."

Kimberly sent me a wonderful and instructional link that goes a long way toward explaining the appeal of horror. Entitled, “9 of the Most Terrifying 2 Sentence Horror Stories Ever Told,” it is exactly what it sounds like. People wrote the best horror story they could in 2 sentences, and the results are chilling.

I feel like I can talk about why people like horror forever and you will think you understand, but if you simply click through and read a few of these 2 sentence stories you will feel it for yourself.

About Me

I am a Librarian [MLIS] in Illinois specializing in serving leisure readers ages 13 and up. I train library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through their local public library. I am the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, 2d edition (ALA Editions, 2012). I am under contract to write content for EBSCO's NoveList database, Booklist and Indie Picks Magazine , am a member of the Adult Reading Round Table Steering Committee, a 5 term Trustee for my local library, and am a proud member of The Horror Writers' Association. Check out the side bar for links to the groups and organizations with which I am affiliated.